Kingdom Hearts Final Mix

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Kingdom Hearts Final Mix
キングダムハーツ ファイナルミックス Kingudamu Hātsu Fainaru Mikkusu
Developer(s)	Square Co., Ltd.
Publisher(s)	Square Co., Ltd.
Release date(s)	December 26, 2002
Genre	Action RPG
Game modes	Single player
Ratings	CERO:A
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2

Kingdom Hearts Final Mix is a Japan reissue of Kingdom Hearts that uses English voice acting with Japanese subtitles among additional in-game features. The PlayStation 2 version of it is exclusive to Japan.

The game was remastered in HD and released as part of Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX for PlayStation 3 on March 14, 2013. As opposed to the original Final Mix, the remake features Japanese voice acting in the Japanese release. As part of the collection, it was made available outside of Japan for the first time. It was later released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as part of Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX.

Limited releases

Pre-order goods

Depending on what store the game was pre-ordered, customers could get a CD containing tracks from the game or a playing card set adorned with Kingdom Hearts characters and symbols. Also, at some stores in Japan, they were giving away a dual Keyblade embroidered necklace with a reserved copy.

Kingdom Hearts Final Mix Platinum Limited

Kingdom Hearts Final Mix Platinum Limited came in a box containing the game case, a sheet of eight Kingdom Hearts stickers; a postcard calendar featuring Tetsuya Nomura artwork and—contained in a CD case—a block figure of Sora, part of Square's Minimum Collection; and three can badges. The set costs 8,800 yen.

Changes

Below is a complete list of all currently known changes to the game, comparing the 2002 international version of Kingdom Hearts to the Japanese-only Final Mix release:

Title Screen Changes

Sora's artwork on the start screen.

• New title screen artwork of a hooded Sora holding a flag.
• A third option, "Special Movie" featuring a trailer for Final Fantasy X-2 was added to the title menu. (This was removed in the HD Remixes).

Difficulty Options

The original game's two difficulty levels (Normal and Expert) were reworked to three in Final Mix:

• Final Mix: Beginner
  • Sora deals 3x damage compared to Final Mix.
  • Gummi Ship takes 1/2 damage compared to Final Mix.
  • Sora starts the game with the following items and accessories in stock:
    • Ribbon
    • EXP Necklace
    • 8 Power Ups
    • 8 Defense Ups
    • 4 AP Ups
  • Drill-G's attack power is 9.999 instead of 35.
  • No secret endings can be unlocked.
  • "KHFMBG" is displayed on the save file.
• Final Mix
  • Another Side, Another Story... secret ending unlockable by sealing all keyholes, finding all 99 puppies and completing the Hades Cup
  • Another Side, Another Story [deep dive] secret ending unlockable by completing Jiminy's Journal
  • "KHFM" displayed on save file.
• Final Mix: Proud
  • Enemies deal 2x damage compared to Final Mix.
  • Gummi Ship deals 1/2 damage compared to Final Mix.
  • Battle Record is displayed on the end screen of the game.
  • Another Side, Another Story... secret ending unlockable by beating the game.
  • Another Side, Another Story [deep dive] secret ending unlockable by sealing all keyholes and completing the Hades Cup.
  • Completing Jiminy's Journal and beating the game displays a night version of the Final Mix cover artwork on the end screen.
  • "KHFMPR" displayed on save file.

New Enemies

• 11 new rare Heartless were added to the game:
  • Chimera
  • Gigas Shadow
  • Grand Ghost
  • Stealth Soldier
  • Pot Scorpion
  • Pink Agaricus
  • Jet Balloon
  • Missile Diver
  • Sniperwild
  • Black Ballade
  • Neoshadow
• Almost all existing Heartless in the game were recolored, including bosses.
• The following existing Heartless were given unique names and designs to differentiate them from other Heartless found in the game:
  • Destroyed Behemoth
  • Arch Behemoth
  • Red Armor
  • Sneak Army

New Secret Ending

• A new secret ending, Another Side, Another Story [deep dive] was added to the game and can be unlocked by completing Jiminy's Journal on Final Mix difficulty or sealing all keyholes and completing the Hades Cup on Proud difficulty. If the ending is unlocked, it plays in place of Another Side, Another Story... upon completing the game.

Sora battling the Unknown in Final Mix.

New Secret Boss

• A new secret boss, Unknown, was added to the game. The boss becomes accessible at the Castle Chapel in Hollow Bastion after the party reaches Final Rest and rewards EXP Necklace and Ansem Report 13 upon being defeated.

New Weapons

Six new weapons were added to the game, two each for Sora, Donald and Goofy. These weapons serve as "secondary ultimates", with one having more power than the regular ultimate weapon (Ultima Weapon, Save the King, and Save the Queen) usually with an MP reduction, while the other has more Magic potential with low physical capabilities:

• One-Winged Angel (Sora)
• Diamond Dust (Sora)
• Meteor Strike (Donald)
• Fantasista (Donald)
• Mighty Shield (Goofy)
• Seven Elements (Goofy)

New Abilities

11 new abilities were added to the game:

• Slapshot (Sora)
• Sliding Dash (Sora)
• Stun Impact (Sora)
• Gravity Break (Sora)
• Ripple Drive (Sora)
• Hurricane Blast (Sora)
• Zantetsuken (Sora)
• Leaf Bracer(Sora, Donald)
• Tech Boost (Sora)
• Encounter Plus (Sora)
• Evolution (Goofy)

New Accessories

15 new accessories were added to the game:

• Firagun Band
• Blizzagun Band
• Thundagun Band
• Obsidian Ring
• Moogle Badge
• Cosmic Arts
• Royal Crown
• Prime Cap
• Ifrit Belt
• Shiva Belt
• Ramuh Belt
• EXP Bracelet
• EXP Earring
• EXP Necklace
• EXP Ring

New Cutscenes

Several new cutscenes were inserted into the main story, as well as a new cutscene after defeating Sephiroth and a cutscene before the Unknown battle. However no new audio was recorded, with the two cutscenes involving Riku featuring subtitles only.

• On the second day on Destiny Islands, Kairi can be seen crafting the Wayfinder out of Thalassa Shells, and she explains to Sora what it is in a new text-box conversation.
• After Sora's fight against Leon in Traverse Town, Riku is shown to be lost in Hollow Bastion, calling out for his friends as Maleficent looks on.
• After Sora speaks to Kairi in the underground waterway in Traverse Town, Riku is shown lost in the Realm of Darkness after Ansem, Seeker of Darkness took his body. There, he is assisted by King Mickey who reveals that he has the realm's Keyblade.
• Prior to the Door to Darkness closing, flashbacks of Sora and Riku playing together as children are shown.
• After Sora defeats Sephiroth, Cloud is seen walking in and beginning a duel against the one-winged angel.
• Prior to fighting the Unknown, he is shown walking into the room and speaking to Sora cryptically and non-vocally. Sora's and Goofy's voice lines in this scene are recycled from the original game.

Treasure/Reward Changes

• The contents of almost all treasure chests in the game were altered or shuffled around, including chests received via Trinities.
• Rewards for completing the solo and time trial challenges for the first three coliseum cups were changed:
  • Phil Cup
    • Solo: Sora learns Combo Plus instead of receiving a Mythril Shard.
    • Time Trial: Sora learns Tech Boost instead of receiving an AP Up.
  • Pegasus Cup
    • Solo: Sora receives an Orichalcum instead of Mythril.
    • Time Trial: Sora receives Dark Matter instead of a Defense Up.
  • Hercules Cup
    • Solo: Sora learns Critical Plus instead of receiving an Orichalcum.
    • Time Trial: Sora learns Gravity Break instead of receiving a Power Up.
• Pongo and Perdita now award Tech Boost instead of a Ribbon for collecting 90 puppies.
• Sora now learns Zantetsuken and obtains Ansem Report 11 for defeating Kurt Zisa.
• Sora now obtains Diamond Dust for defeating the Ice Titan.
• Sora now obtains One-Winged Angel and Ansem Report 12 for defeating Sephiroth.

Synthesis Changes

• 11 new synthesis materials were added to the game. 10 of these 11 materials serve as unique drops for the new rare Heartless added to Final Mix:
  • Blazing Stone
  • Fury Stone
  • Frost Stone
  • Energy Stone
  • Mythril Stone
  • Serenity Power
  • Dazzling Stone
  • Power Stone
  • Lightning Stone
  • Stormy Stone
  • Dark Matter
• The synthesis menu was overhauled, with items now becoming available to synthesize in a different order as well as new items added to the menu and different material requirements to synthesize certain items.

Balance Changes

• Party Member Balance Changes
  • Leveling tables (which abilities are learned at what level) were overhauled for Sora, Donald and Goofy, with Sora's leveling tables seeing the most change.
  • Level up stat increases were changed for Sora, Donald and Goofy, resulting in each character having different stats at level 100 compared to the original game.
  • Donald's revival time was increased to 80 seconds, instead of 60.
  • Goofy's revival time was increased to 60 seconds, instead of 45.
  • Tarzan's starting AP was increased to 19, instead of 16.
  • Tarzan's revival time was increased to 60 seconds, instead of 45.
  • Aladdin's starting AP was reduced to 22, instead of 26.
  • Jack's starting AP was increased to 17, instead of 16.
  • Peter Pan's starting AP was reduced to 26, instead of 22.
  • Beast's starting AP was increased to 17, instead of 12.
• Enemy Balance Changes
  • Riku-Ansem's dark discs now damage him when reflected back to him with block.
• Weapon Balance Changes
  • Fairy Harp's crit bonus was decreased by 2 and crit rate decreased by 0.5.
  • Wishing Star's crit bonus was reduced by 2.
  • Metal Chocobo's strength was reduced by 1.
  • Olympia's strength was reduced by 1, crit bonus reduced by 2 and crit rate increased by 0.5.
  • Lady Luck's strength was decreased by 1.
  • Divine Rose's strength was increased by 3.
  • Oblivion's crit bonus was reduced by 2.
  • Ultima Weapon's strength was increased by 2, crit bonus reduced by 2.
  • Lord Fortune's strength increased by 1.
  • Violetta's strength was reduced by 2, crit bonus increased by 2.
  • Wizard's Relic's strength was increased by 3.
  • Dream Rod's strength was reduced by 3.
  • Save the Queen's strength was increased by 1.
  • Genji Shield's strength was increased by 2.
  • Defender's strength was increased by 3.
  • Dream Shield's MP was increased by 1.
  • Save the King's strength was increased by 1.
• Accessory Balance Changes
  • Three Stars's defense was increased by 1.
  • Chaos Ring's defense was increased by 1.
  • Rune Armlet's defense was increased by 1.
• Ability Balance Changes
  • Critical Plus now costs 2 AP instead of 3.
  • Blitz now costs 2 AP instead of 3.
  • MP Rage now costs 3 AP instead of 2.
  • The amount of MP recovered from MP Rage was reduced to 1/5 of damage taken instead of 1/2.
  • MP Gift now costs 2 MP to use instead of 1.
  • Lucky Strike now costs 2 AP instead of 3.
  • Trinity Limit now costs 1 AP instead of 5.
  • Second Chance now costs 5 AP instead of 2.
  • Ars Arcanum now costs 4 AP instead of 3.
  • Strike Raid now costs 2 AP instead of 3.
  • Ragnarok now costs 4 AP instead of 3.
  • MP Gift now costs 2 AP instead of 1.
  • Charge now costs 1 AP instead of 2.

Quality of Life Changes

• Cutscenes that have already been viewed once can now be skipped in the pause menu.
• Sora now becomes transparent when he is close to the camera.
• The Red Trinity at Oogie's Manor in Halloween Town is now accessible even after the Manor is destroyed. In the original game, if the Trinity was not collected prior to this point in the story, it would be permanently inaccessible.
• Camera settings (auto or manual) can now be chosen before starting a new game
• An option to return to the title menu was added to save points.
• Jiminy's Journal now displays "NEW" notifications for unread entries.
• Yellow Mickey heads now appear next to completed sections in Jiminy's Journal, and will appear on the Journal tab of the menu when the entire Journal has been completed.
• Not-yet-encountered Heartless now appear as "????" in Jiminy's Journal.
• The cursor on the world map is now freely movable and snaps to nearby worlds, compared to the original in which the cursor was fixed upon the gummi routes.
• Pressing triangle with a world selected on the world map now displays gummi missions for the world, instead of just displaying the 3D model of the world like in the original game.

Misc.

• Three additional Ansem Reports (Reports 11-13) were added to the game.
• Orichalcums can now be purchased at the Item Shop for 5000 Munny.
• The order of sections in Jiminy's Journal was changed.
• The color of Jiminy's Journal was changed from brown to blue.
• The artwork on the end screen of the game was replaced with the cover art of the Final Mix version (completing Jiminy's Journal on Proud difficulty shows a night version of the same artwork).

External links

• Official website